An Odyssey into the Mindscape of a Jinchuuriki
by Aivelis
Summary: This is not the world as we know it. There is still the Jinchuuriki, and his best friend, the boy whose entire clan has been massacred by his own brother. But the roles has been switched. This time, Sasuke is Kyuubi's container, and Naruto is the sole survivor of the Namikaze Massacre.How will they turn out to be? Friends? Rivals? Enemies? No main pairing.
1. Chapter 1- Contrast

**Hello Friends! This is my first fanfiction, so please be nice to me! This is unbeta'd so please do not mind any grammar/spelling mistakes!**

**This fiction is not Yaoi, and will never be. It won't have any main pairings either. Side pairings can be suggested, though! The most it will  
contain is a bit of bromance.**

**Disclaimer: The characters and settings are not mine. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto-Sensei. Please Enjoy!**

Chapter 1- Contrast

"Monster"

"Demon Child"

The curses and screams rang on and on repeatedly inside my head. Was I really what they said I was? Was that what I was? What I should believe myself to be? A monster, a demon? Should I be shunned? Hunted? Left alone in the dark?

I knew but one thing, only that I will forever be subjected to this endless loneliness; a horrible punishment for a horrible monster.

Was I that monster?

* * *

It was night-time in the village of Konohagakure no Sato. Dark shadows casted by streams of moonlight covered every visible surface. No-one but the shinobi population and the extremely drunk civilians were still active at this time of the night.

The alley was dark and desolate. There was naught there but a young boy crouched near where walls met walls and formed a dead end, casting dark shadows over his little body. He appeared still, but if one was to look closer, they would find that tremors often racked his small frame and sobs escaped his mouth. But nobody would look any closer than as far away as possible.

This boy deserved it. He deserved the loneliness. He did not need pity.

Small hands clenched raven hair, eyes squeezed shut and face scrunched, trying desperately to conjure up a world where this terrible loneliness did not exist. Thinking on his stupidity, he let out a short, humourless chuckle. Even at his tender age of three summers, he knew that a world like that was nothing but a fantasy entertained in the mind for a short time, or maybe a while longer, if the thinker was a brave person.

Where humans existed, peace did not. He was a living testament of this statement. After all, what had he done but exist, to be hated by all who surrounded him? He was naught but a small boy, who had never known love, who had experienced things no-one, no matter the age, should experience.

Gradually, the sobbing reduced and the tears subsided.

The boy was left hunched the corner with a red nose and dirt-stained hands, as well an aching heart, a desperate heart, reaching out with a pitiful voice to anyone who would accept him, an empty heart.

Slowly, fingers unclenched and unfurled, and little hands were placed on the alley floor as the child picked himself up from the cold ground. Bearing a dirty face, excluding the two clean lines running from the corner of his eyes to the tip of his chin, carrying a slight limp and bruised knees, he slowly, dejectedly trudged back to his small, dark apartment, the alley-cats peering at his retreating figure.

The last thing they saw of him was the small symbol of a red-and-white fan stitched onto the back of his shirt.

* * *

Sasuke was an Uchiha. He was proud of this fact. Even if he did not properly know what that meant, it gave him something to hold on to. He had been told that the Uchihas were once a mighty clan. It was a clan that was feared and a clan that was admired. Once upon a time his father was a hero of this village. He was a great man, known for his intelligence and quick thinking, along with his impressive array of katon and ocular jutsu. Skills fitting for the head of Konoha's police force. Now, the man was a pile of bones buried in the ground, topped by a grey stone headstone stating only his name and profession.

His brother had been a brilliant fighter and he had excelled in everything that he did. Everyone had loved him, the famed weasel-masked ANBU, protector of the village. He was now resting under the same patch of dirt as his father.

His mother was a beautiful woman and a medic that had saved countless lives. But she had not saved Sasuke's. Yes, he was living, but at the same time he was not. He was a mere husk, a shell of what he could have been. The mirth of the villagers had seen to this.

And that was that. The proud Uchihas, once a clan set to dominate the world, now nothing more than a memory, save for one small boy who always cried and never laughed, and was treated more like a sewer-rat carrying a highly contagious, incurable disease than anything else. And they had all died for him.

And that one small boy was now standing in front of the leader of the merciless village.

Minato Namikaze was a man whose mere name struck fear into the hearts of all his enemies, no matter who they were. Also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash, he blazed around the battlefield with his cloak flowing in the wind, using the jutsu he had created using only his brilliant mind. His yellow hair almost too bright in the sunlight and his blue eyes flashing, he was able to decimate an entire army of iwa-nin in a matter of seconds. To the people of Konoha, he was a just and fair ruler, who made decisions according to the best interests of his people. He was a loving husband, a caring father and a trustworthy friend.

And now he was sitting in front of a young, raven haired boy, the last Uchiha, no less.

"How is your apartment, Sasuke?" His mouth curled into a half-smile," I know that you do not want to stay at that orphanage for a minute longer."

"It's okay." Sasuke peered at the ground and shuffled his feet. He was uncomfortable around any other form of human life, no matter how nice they appeared to be.

"No-one has hurt you?"

"Hn." His speech was reduced to monosyllables.

Minato sighed and rubbed his temples. How different Sasuke was to his own son, who was only a few months Sasuke's junior. Assuming the boy's answer meant a 'yes', Minato shuffled his papers around. He wanted to protect this child, he really did. He knew this boy had suffered at the hands of the Konoha people, although he did not know exactly to what extent, and he did everything in his power to make sure he was all right. He had made laws that had forbidden anyone from mentioning the monster that was sealed inside the young boy. He had forbidden anyone to attack him, or abuse him. That did not mean that every person respected these laws. Once, after a particularly bad case in which the boy was nearly beaten to death, he had tried adopting him.

Needless to say, that plan had failed badly. The boy was already scarred too deeply. He seemed unable to trust another person.

So Minato did the only other thing he could think of. He gave the boy his own apartment and constantly left him food, a few clothes and paid for his bills. He also tried to see the boy often and ask of his well-being, just like he was doing now.

Minato sighed once again. He could feel the beginnings of a headache forming.

"Sasuke, I'm going to have to decide something very important regarding your future. That is, I need to decide whether you are going to be attending the shinobi academy or not. Do you wish to?" Minato concluded his monologue and glanced expectantly at Sasuke.

"Hn,"was the not-too-surprising answer.

"Why not, Sasuke? You're five, Sasuke. This is usually the time you'd enrol. You'd be able to learn many skills and it may impact you positively. I know you'd love it."

Sasuke contemplated for his answer. Minato smirked. At least it wasn't going to be another one-word answer. Sasuke, for once, thought it over extensively. He _did_ want to make use of his life. If he became a ninja, he would no longer need to worry about being attacked. He would be able to defend himself. But, he thought, there would be people there. To him, people were an uncharted territory; they were completely off his maps.

"Fine."

Damn. It _was_ just one word. Minato ran his fingers through the long yellow strands of his hair. And just when he though Sasuke was going to start a soliloquy too.

"Great choice, Sasuke. You can go now. Take care. I'll register your name in the new academy student file for next year."

Wordlessly, the boy turned around and exited the door. No less than five seconds after he had exited, the door burst open once again to reveal someone similar, yet completely different to the previous person who had exited the room.

A flash of yellow flew into the office and landed on the desk of the esteemed hokage, knocking over more than just a few stacks of paper, hence the room looking like it was caught in a blizzard to anyone who just happened to walk past at that moment.

Minato sat, gaping and shell-shocked as the last vestiges of the paper snow-storm floated gently to the ground. And unlike the paper, what happened after that was not gentle.

Far from it.

From the mouth of our yellow haired hokage, came out three strangled syllables. A few seconds after, a scream of the same three syllables could be heard reverberating throughout the normally peaceful village.

"NA-RU-TO!"

The cause of the miniature disaster sat in the middle of the now empty desk.

"A-ah Dad. Y-you don't wanna t-talk? 'kay I-I'll just be g-going now then. Bye!"

And with that, the hurricane on feet disappeared out the door as quickly as he came in, a rather wise move.

Minato groaned and pushed his anger aside. His hands almost unconsciously formed the seals for a certain jutsu. As copies of himself popped up around him in the office, he slapped a hand to his forehead.

_Thank god_ Sasuke was so different to his own son.

* * *

Naruto raced out of the Hokage building. His black shirt, decorated with an orange Uzumaki swirl, fluttered lightly. His feet lightly tapping the floor at every step he took. He took a leap upwards and settled onto a telephone pole, wires protruding haphazardly from its centre point. He took another bound, landing with both hands and feet on top of a red-tiled roof, before dashing accelerating forward once again.

Since it was such a beautiful day today, Naruto decided he would go visit a wily old scarecrow. He was in the mood for playing with the dogs. Pakkun, the lazy pug, always made him laugh.

His kaa-chan and his aniki might be worried if he didn't tell them where he was going. He shrugged the thought off. Oh well, even though he was only four, they should know perfectly well that he was a ninja. He could take care of himself. He dashed forward, arms held loosely behind him, with even more resolve. As he ran, he glanced up at the mountain in which the hokage faces were carved, and at that moment, he felt the abrupt, unquenchable urge to laugh.

So laugh he did. His father's face had been priceless. His small hands gripped the cloth covering his stomach and his back hunched, shoulders quivering, giggles escaping his mouth before turning into full-blown howls. He bent over, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Eventually, they resided, and he was left with a sore stomach and civilians wondering why there were strange sounds, sounds that would best be described as coming from a hyena on a soldier pill, coming from the general direction of their rooves.

Seriously, though. He was going to be up there someday, immortalised as a carving in a mountain with his dad. He was going to be the greatest hokage ever and he'd kick enemy ninja butt!

He was already considered an amazing ninja for his age, a prodigy if you must, just with an unfortunate bit of an immature streak. He'd already learnt to use chakra and do simple exercises, like the henge and the kawarimi, courtesy of his dad, and he was going to be attending the academy next year! He couldn't wait! Even though he already had many friends, both his age and older, Naruto was always up for meeting new people. After all, what was a hokage without his acquaintances? He nodded his head resolutely. If he was going to be hokage, he was going to be a popular one, more popular than his dad ever will be.

He was going to be superior to his dad in any, and every, way possible.

And so there was Naruto, dashing to the house of his father's student, yellow air flowing in the speed-generated wind, the orange of his sweatpants the only thing the civilians could catch a glimpse of as he swept by. Suddenly he stopped, his ears perking up. He could hear something, but it was extremely faint. Stopping for a moment, he channelled chakra to his ears and cocked his head, listening intently.

Yes! There it was again, that strange, sobbing cough. Was an old lady being attacked by thieves? Well, she wouldn't be soon. Not if _he_ had anything to say about it! Never fear, Uzumaki Naruto is here! He flexed into a heroic pose, accentuated with a fist pump, and with calculated, chakra-enhanced steps, he dashed to the scene of the crime.

Short legs pumped as he ran. Left right left right. Jump up, jump down, land, duck. Bright cerulean eyes glanced around, trying to detect the source of the sound. Chakra-enhanced ears identified faint sobs and his nose picked up the slight scent of tears. Estimating where the next landing was, he performed a leap, ending with a skid, causing the red tiled roof to groan out in protest.

Naruto peered over the edge of the roof, eyeing every possible place, unconsciously looking for a poor old woman. His gaze finally fell onto the alley directly below him. His eyes slowly widened, and he gasped. This would have to be the last thing he was expecting.

"M-Mizuki-san?"

**Le gasp! Who is Naruto's mysterious brother, and why is Mizuki there? The first person to guess both right before the next chapter is posted, I'll reward them with a one-shot dedicated to them! Any pairing and does not have to be Naruto fiction, just not R-18, please!**

**Since this is my first fanfic, I'd love any constructive criticism. I'd love it if you could review!**

**Notes: Kakashi means scarecrow, therefore the scarecrow Naruto is going to visit is Kakashi. Just remember that. Kaa-chan is an affectionate way of saying 'mum', or 'mother', and aniki means older brother. Henge is the body changing jutsu(sexy no jutsu is a form of henge) and Kawarimi is the body-switching jutsu.**

**I tried to keep the personalities on all the characters and not make them too OOC.**

**Thanks for reading my fic!**

**Ja!**


	2. Chapter 2- Warmth

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed/faved/followed!** **Again, this is unbeta'd so please just bear with me ^^**

**Disclaimer: The characters and settings are not mine. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto-Sensei. Please Enjoy! This is also **not** yaoi! This is a friendship fic!**

**Most Japanese words will be explained at the bottom.**

Chapter 2- Warmth

I see, no, I _feel_ the ray of light in the endless darkness. At first it was small, insignificant. It had radiated from a yellow haired man, the first one who ever cared for monster. But the light was too weak, too dim, and it faded as soon as I left his presence. But now, there is something new; a new light. It feels stronger, more radiant. I can't see the source of the light, but I feel his presence.

I feel something fluttering in my chest. Is this what they call 'hope'?

* * *

"M-Mizuki-san?"

It was indeed the white-haired man. Unlike his usual kind smile, a sinister smirk adorned his face, the shaded cover of the alleyway causing his face to become adorned with menacing shadows.

That frightening image only lasted a moment. As soon as Mizuki had spotted the blond, his mouth curved upwards, creating what would usually be called a sweet smile. But it never reached his eyes, those cold, green eyes.

Mizuki was one of his brother's older friends. He wouldn't hurt him…right?

Mizuki's eyes crinkled.

"Hello, Naruto-kun. You've found me, eh?" He stopped and took a quick step backwards, eyes darting backwards, glancing briefly at the shadows of the alley.

Naruto's eyes automatically took a peek in that direction, following Mizuki's eyes. It wasn't a little old lady being attacked by thieves. It was worse.

_Much_ worse.

In the gloom, he spotted two eyes; they were half open, and they belonged to a child who could not be too much older than he was. His body was battered and his face was full of scratches. Even as Naruto watched, some of the injuries healed and the eyes slid shut, probably due to exhaustion and the strain that had been placed on his body

Naruto suddenly felt small.

"Mizuki-san. H-help him. W-why won't you help him?"

Mizuki chuckled to himself. The boy sounded, not to mention looked, absolutely terrified.

"Poor Naruto-kun. You do not know? This is a despicable boy, a horrible boy. I'm surprised that you were not informed of this devil spawn. See his accelerated healing? He is a demon, a monster. He cannot be trusted. He deserves this."

Naruto could only stare. This boy? A monster? No, he couldn't be. No child, no matter how 'despicable' they were, could ever deserve this. If this child was treated like this, why wasn't he treated like this either? It wasn't fair.

He made up his mind. He would fight for this boy. One day, he was going to be hokage. He needed to protect his people.

He steadied himself. He needed to use _that_ jutsu.

He took a deep breath. He held up the first two fingers of each hand and formed a cross.

"Kage-bunshin no Jutsu"

Mizuki never saw what was coming. This was a B-ranked jutsu, for kami's sake!

Ten Narutos appeared, filling the tight space with the vibrant orange.

Seeing Mizuki's surprise, Naruto allowed himself a grin.

The Jutsu had been taught to him, just like it was taught to every young Uzumaki, as they had too much chakra for a regular bunshin. Since Naruto had already learnt the other basic jutsus, Minato saw it fit for Naruto to learn the shadow clones. He was son of a hokage, after all. He could handle it.

"Mizuki, as future Hokage, I will never allow this to happen. No-one deserves this treatment from anyone! Believe it!"

With that, he ran onward, along with all his bunshins, attempting to harm the horrible man. Grabbing a kunai from the weapons pouch strapped to his thigh, he aimed, throwing it with deadly accuracy. While a few of his bunshins attempted to hold Mizuki down, grabbing his arms so that he could not form any handseals, one of the Narutos aimed a kick at his head. It connected. Blood sprayed out from the white-haired man's mouth. He had obviously bitten the inside of his cheek. Soon after came the kunai from the original Naruto. Mizuki started, seeing the blade, and with a burst of strength, fought off the struggling four-year-olds holding him down, causing one or two to pop out of existence.

As the rest of the bunshins dashed toward him again, Mizuki thought fast. Using speed and precision, as well as a sudden burst of inspiration, he grabbed six shurikens and slotted three in each hand, in the gaps between his fingers. In desperation, he threw them at the black-haired kyuubi brat, the pathetic monster, who was still lying helplessly on the floor.

Naruto did not know how to react. His eyes widened. He did not know why, but he could not, and would not, allow this boy to die. The shurikens careering towards the raven seemed to be in slow motion.

Naruto's thoughts halted, and in a stroke of genius, he used a simple kawarimi to replace himself with a small trash can that was lying in the alleyway. Slightly dazed from the sudden change of environment, but battle senses tingling, he spotted the shurikens hurtling straight towards him.

He could not dodge to either side in fear that one row of shurikens would hit his face. Nor did he have the time to duck. He could only stand, waiting for the impending doom and hope that the two rows of blades would fly past both sides of his head. If it would protect the dark-haired boy, he would do it.

Time stood at a standstill. He could feel the blood rushing to his head.

The shurikens tore closer. It was too late now.

And they hit.

Blood spilled from his cheeks. They formed six perfect lines, three on each side. Blood spilt forth like a trickle of water from a tap.

The shurikens caused a dull thud behind him, the impact causing them to become almost embedded into the wall.

Scars marring his perfect face, Naruto turned back to Mizuki, blue eyes glinting.

"You dared. You dared to try and hurt him."

His eyes narrowed.

"Mizuki, you will pay."

The whispered words carried a threat. Not a threat from boy to man, but from ninja to ninja.

Naruto once again formed the seals.

"Kage-bunshin no Jutsu."

Dozens of blondes appeared from his jutsu, his form filling the previously empty alley. He used his sheer numbers, if nothing else, to overwhelm the man into submission.

Mizuki did not stand a chance.

With bloody cheeks, a dirty face and rumpled hair, Naruto dispelled all but two of his clones.

Sasuke peered through hazy eyes. Suddenly, orange filled his blurry vision. His eyes rolled back. Too exhausted from his ordeal, he soon fell back into a deep slumber.

Naruto turned and approached the man that lay of the floor. Communicating with his clones, he sent them, carrying the limp form of Mizuki, to his father. He would know what to do.

The flow of the blood on the blonde's cheeks suddenly halted as part of his own shirt was ripped and pressed against is face. The cuts looked like they would scar. Carefully, he lifted up the sleeping boy. He needed to be healed, and soon.

Kakashi was the closest. He would go to him.

* * *

Naruto pushed open the door. As it opened, it let off a rather loud squeak. Kakashi's position in Naruto's mind rose a bit. It was a cool trick. If an assassin ever came into the room through the door, they could be apprehended immediately due to the sound the rusty hinges gave off.

Not that assassins usually entered through the door.

Naruto peered through the crack, and opened it wider. The black-haired boy was propped up on his bed. He no longer seemed injured; there was no sign of any of the bruises or scratches he had received earlier that day.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked terrible. Although he had gotten a quick nap on Kakashi's lounge, his hair was in disarray and there were small shadows under his eyes. The most prominent thing about him, though, had to be the two large bandages placed on his cheeks, covering the worst of his injuries. Despite that, he still looked quite happy, and he was as energetic as ever.

Sasuke's eyes widened. Was this the boy that had saved him? The grey-haired, masked man had come to see him, and to explain what had happened. Sasuke had recognised the man's voice. It had come from an ANBU with a dog-faced mask. He had been collected by inu to be taken see the hokage a few times.

That bought him to another question. Was the yellow-haired boy who had saved him the hokage's son?

Sasuke could certainly see the resemblance, though the boy's eyes were wider, and a deeper, prettier, blue colour. Those eyes were more trusting, more innocent. Both his hair and smile was bright, radiant. Just like the sun.

Naruto cocked his head. Why was this boy staring at him? He walked into the room and put on a bright smile.

"Hi, you feeling better? You sure heal fast! I hope Mizuki didn't do anything too bad."

The only response was silence.

"Um, I forgot to ask. What's your name? I'm Uzumaki Naruto but I'm from the Namikaze household. There's heaps of Namikazes but I'm the last Uzumaki, so my mom wanted me to inherit her name. Even though I didn't inherit the name, I'm still going to get my dad's position! I'm going to be hokage one day… Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Hn." was the simple answer. Well, Sasuke's question was answered.

"Teme! Can you even speak? You haven't even told me your name! "

"It's Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke."

"So you can speak! How're you feeling?"

"Fine."

Naruto groaned, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Teme."

Sasuke was confused. This boy did not seem to hold any evil intent, but he kept on calling him names. Was this what people usually did?

Naruto sighed. "Fine, I'll go. No use talking to someone who won't speak." The blonde stuck his tongue out.

He once again turned to face the horribly squeaky door.

Just as he placed one hand on the handle, a voice spoke out from behind him.

"T-thanks"

"Huh?" Naruto turned his head around.

Sasuke's head was tilted downwards, staring at his feet. His small hands gripped the doona.

His voice was extremely small.

"I said thanks. Thanks for saving me today."

Naruto's mouth curved up into a grin.

"Anytime, teme."

His fingers fell from the handle and he walked towards the bed. As he sat down and made himself comfortable, he noticed that Sasuke shied away from him, keeping his distance, like a rather skittish puppy.

Seeing the raven's nervousness, Naruto gave him a smile.

"I changed my mind. You're actually ok."

Naruto held out a small hand.

"Friends?"

Sasuke shuddered.

"I-I can't."

"Why not?"

"I-I'm a monster. You're the s-sun. You can't be my friend."

"Would I have saved you if I thought you were a monster? I don't know about you, but when I think of monsters, they're big and scary." He gave Sasuke a glance. "You're not. Have you ever hurt anyone?"

Sasuke continued staring downwards. He shook his head.

"See? Mizuki-san was the monster."

Naruto hopped off the bed.

"Sasuke? I'll try again." He held out a hand.

"Friends?"

The raven-haired child stared briefly at the hand that had been shoved intrudingly in his line of sight. Slowly, he unfurled his own fingers and grasped the hand.

Black eyes that had met blue creased as a smile touched Sasuke's small lips.

"Friends."

With that one word, the future altered, perhaps for a few people, perhaps for the whole village and possibly for a number even greater than that. No-one really knows.

There was really only one thing that was for certain. The destinies of two certain boys would be changed forever.

**Ok, we know why Mizuki is there, but the offer of a one-shot to the person who guesses Naruto's brother is still available. As per usual I'd love some constructive criticism. **

**Naruto might seem to be a bit overly strong here. Well, the Uzumaki's all have a lot of stamina(that's why kyuubi has been sealed only in Uzumakis) and that's why he is able to make so many kage-bunshins, though not as many as in canon, of course. Minato has also been teaching him since he was young, and the canon Naruto's only teacher figure when he was young was Iruka, and Iruka is pretty busy, and only a chuunin. If canon Naruto had someone to teach him, he'd be pretty strong, I mean, he learnt Kage-bunshin in only a few hours and the Rasengan in less than a week. Think about it XD**

**Notes: Kage-bunshin no Jutsu means Shadow clone jutsu, Teme means Bastard/Asshole. In canon, Naruto calls Sasuke 'teme', Sasuke calls Naruto 'dobe'. It's kinda like their pet names for each other XD. Dobe means dead last/loser. That will come in later. Inu means dog (therefore Kakashi was the dog-masked ANBU).**

**It won't hurt to review! It'd make my day!**

**See you next time!**


	3. Chapter 3- Open

**Sorry guys for not updating for a while. I had exams and I was *cough* studying. I also had a mild case of writers block.**

**Thanks to every single person who reviewed, favourite-ed, followed or simply read my story. It warms the cockles of my heart to know that people are reading something that I wrote XD. I'm especially glad that some people took the time to review.**

**Disclaimer: This characters and settings are not mine, and if it were, I would assure you that Naruto would not wear orange. At all. Instead, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

**Oh, and again, this story will not be Yaoi. It won't have any main pairing, in fact.**

**Without further ado, here's the story.**

Chapter 3- Open

_Was_ I a monster? _He_ said I wasn't, and he was someone I could trust…right?

The light he radiates is so warm; I just want to forget myself in it. But I can't, just like I can't trust his father. I'm scared. What if he leaves one day?

What if he _betrays_ me?

What if I get left behind in that endless darkness again? I can't handle that.

Perhaps I should just stay away.

But I can't do that, either. I would probably break.

I don't know what to do. What _can_ I do?

* * *

"C'mon, Sasuke, talk to me! Aren't we friends?"

Kakashi stood in the corner of the room, quietly watching, just like a ninja should. His nose was buried in a fluorescent orange copy of one his favourite 'Icha Icha' series, seemingly reading, while actually observing the two children.

Both boys were still at Kakashi's house. Sasuke had been allowed to stay there a couple of days; after all, it wasn't safe for Sasuke to go out _just_ yet. Who knows what Mizuki's friends would do to him if he were alone. A long interrogation process had started after Mizuki had been sent to Minato, the same procedure that happened to all traitors who had gone against Konoha. Although he had been beaten by a mere four-year-old, his mind, as Ibiki soon found out, was quite hard to crack. Nevertheless, Naruto was assured that after it _was_ cracked, he, after his father, of course, would be the first to hear the results. The boy wanted to do all in his power to help his new friend.

But even though it wasn't completely safe, Naruto was sick of staying inside. He wanted to play with Sasuke, he wanted to do it outside, and he wanted to do it _now._

Sasuke grunted an affirmative to Naruto's previous question.

Naruto responded with a mixture between a frown and a pout.

"Teme! If you're my friend, why dontcha' play with me?" After what was dubbed the 'Mizuki incident', Naruto had been trying to get Sasuke to open up more, but it was proving to be harder than he once thought. The boy was simply just too scarred to be able to open up his heart, or his mouth, for that matter, to anyone. He was trying, though, for the yellow-haired sun, he was trying.

"Play?"

"Huh?" Naruto's eyes opened wide, one eyebrow raised so high it disappeared into his hairline. This was something unheard of. It was blasphemy. What kind of kid didn't know how to play? "Haven't you played with anyone before?"

Sasuke stared at his feet. His small head shook from side to side.

"What? If you don't play, whaddaya do then?"

Sasuke shrugged, his hunched shoulders lifting up slightly.

Naruto tapped his chin and mumbled to himself, seemingly deep in thought. Suddenly a huge grin broke out and he raised up a finger, signalling the birth of one of his 'brilliant' ideas.

Kakashi chuckled under his breath. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Let's play a prank!" Naruto grinned the evillest four-year-old grin he could muster; eyes curved into slits, a hand covering his mouth, small giggles, which Sasuke could swear were actually wicked chuckles, escaping minute lips.

Sasuke slowly backed away, slightly frightened.

"C'mon, S'suke," both Naruto's hands encircled Sasuke's arm. "It'll be fun!"

At the raven's reluctancy, Naruto widened his blue eyes and fixed them on the raven-haired boy, puppy-dog-eyeing Sasuke into submission. His bottom lip stuck out slightly in a pout.

"Hn."

That probably meant a yes.

Naruto's fist shot into the air, followed by a shout of accomplishment. He grinned. _No-one_ could resist the Ultimate Uzumaki Puppy-Dog Eyes of Doom, as it was aptly named. It worked better than any jutsu.

Naruto tapped his head. Now there was only the question of who to prank. His mind worked furiously before generating another idea.

"Let's go, S'suke! To the Hyuuga estate!"

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and proceeded to drag him towards the direction of the centre of the village.

Kakashi watched the two disappear and chucked quietly to himself. The village would rue the day that Naruto and Sasuke joined forces. Just as Kakashi once again focused his attention to the book, he heard a small voice in the distance.

"Um, Naruto-san…what's a prank?"

Kakashi shook his head and continued reading the source of his perverted fantasies. Naruto wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, but he sure knew how to make friends. He chuckled. Ah, kids these days.

* * *

"Okay, Sasuke, so first we're going to bust into the mansion, but we're gonna be real quiet. Almost everyone in there can see through walls." Naruto turned to his companion. "Scary, huh. Well, the Hyuuga people love their eyes, so we're gonna make them blind!"

Sasuke shot him a look which made Naruto backtrack a little.

"Well, no, not blind forever, it's just temper-tempo…for a short time!" Naruto went back to concocting his plan.

"So, this is what we do…"

* * *

Hardly making a sound, two pairs of feet crept slowly towards a particular door. The bodies connected to the feet stilled, and a blond head peered around the corner. Whispering to his companion, they once again moved forward. Both of them held a bucket each, one filled to the brim with small round balls and the other, a thick liquid. The raven also held a roll of thin, but strong, string. The blonde was on 'guard-duty'.

Boy, were the Hyuugas in for a surprise.

A door was opened and two boys crept in, working quickly to accomplish their mission. Fingers moving deftly, careful not to leave any marks to suggest that they had been there. They tied the final knot and moved out. The blonde grinned at the raven and signalled for them to hide.

An escape was made, the two boys scurrying around a corner, behind a conveniently-placed bush. Four bright eyes peeked out from behind the foliage and they waited for their first victim. It was time to show the stiff clansmen who was boss.

Not too soon after, a lilac-eyed man appeared. Possessing long black hair that flowed in the slightest wind, a straight back and the pale eyes displaying his lineage, he was the very example of a 'perfect' Hyuuga. Not for long, though. Not if Naruto had anything to say about it.

The man approached the door, seeming to be in a bit of a hurry. As he pulled the door open, two things happened simultaneously.

Firstly, what seemed like a thick, glutinous liquid came pouring out from above, completely coating him in a layer of dense, bright pink slime.

The man gave out a gasp as the liquid came into contact with his skin. It was cold and slimy, not a good combination. Disorientated and fumbling, his hand met the door and he pushed it open, stumbling into the room.

Bad idea.

From a fairly large bucket tumbled out a few paper balls. As they met the floor, they exploded. From the explosion, a fine black powder burst forth. It slowly settled, making the interior of the room resemble a sick idea of a snow-globe.

Some of the powder landed on the slime, sticking instantly. The rest landed in a place that was considered quite important to Hyuugas in particular.

Immediately, the poor man felt a burning sensation in his eyes. A strangled gargle ripped out of his throat. Not being able to see for once in his life, he proceeded to topple over, looking just like a puppet with cut strings, into a pile of pink and black.

The resulting scream that escaped his mouth would give the Hyuugas' nightmares for generations to come.

Of course, the two boys still hidden in the bushes found the sight tremendously amusing. The first one to crack was Naruto, who released a small giggle, but the pink sludge had really nailed it. Soon, both children were howling with laughter, tears threatening to run down their faces, making the entire bush wobble slightly.

As soon as the slime had slowly dribbled down the Hyuuga's face, the balls of black powder had exploded, completely coating the man. His face had been priceless. The children almost forgot that they were in a compound belonging to one of the most powerful clans in Konoha. As it was, they laughed into their palms and bit the insides of their cheeks to muffle the sound of their unstoppable cackling.

For Sasuke in particular, it was a completely new experience, laughing with a friend. It felt…warm. Even if he was the only person he could ever believe in, Sasuke knew he could trust Naruto from the bottom of his heart.

Still hidden in the bushes, the boys could not stop laughing. Their stomachs hurt and streams of joy were running down their cheeks. It was only when Naruto felt the chakra signatures of a few Hyuugas, arriving with byakugan blazing, did he pull Sasuke away, still chuckling, and make a mad dash for the nearest exit.

Thankfully for the both of them, the Hyuugas who had turned up to the little scene were a few of the slightly less powerful ones, and the boys were able to escape unharmed. It was only using sheer luck that they had pranked the men's room in the eastern side of the estate.

It was definitely _not_ sheer luck that the clan's prestigious head, Hyuuga Hiashi, had decided to use the bathroom at that particular time. Hiashi, the poor man, had only wished to relieve himself, and yet he had gotten 'baptised' by pink sludge and black powder. Speaking of the powder, Hiashi wondered what it actually was, and when they found that out, how to get it out of his eyes.

They still stung… besides, didn't those pranksters know how expensive his kimono was?

* * *

An ominous giggle resounded throughout the village of Konoha. The citizens, most of whom, at that particular moment, were peacefully minding their own business, that heard the threatening sound, stood in small clumps, whispering to each other, wondering what the noise could possibly be.

And like a thunderstorm, it hit them. Literally.

They felt the slight breath of the wind as two blurs, one dark and one light, passed them, speeding towards the Uzumaki compound.

Naruto pulled on Sasuke's hand, both of them running just a tad slower than the speed of light. The blonde checked behind them. Nup, no furious soldiers chasing after them embedded with white-eyed ocular jutsu, just a few confused villagers. The usual. Nothing he couldn't deal with.

Naruto led Sasuke closer to the edge of the town, to the small estate he called home. He lightly landed on the porch, Sasuke following suit, with coarser moves, not having been formally trained. As their feet touched the wooden patio, Naruto let go of Sasuke's hand, not feeling the need to hold it anymore. Reaching into his orange pants pocket, he retrieved a set of keys which seemed to be too big for his small hand.

The rather large door, inset with a pane of frosted glass, swung open heavily, revealing a rather average-seeming, though a larger than average, living room.

"Kaa-chan, I'm home!" Naruto called, ushering Sasuke in.

Sasuke looked, wide-eyed, around the room. It was much larger than the living room in his apartment. Heck, it was probably larger than his _entire_ apartment. As he glanced around the tastefully adorned room, he heard footsteps and looked up.

A pretty woman was transcending the stairs. A light green dress, tied with a darker green ribbon, fluttered around her knees, wrapped around her chest was a standard chuunin vest. The most prominent thing about her was the bright red, waist-length hair that framed her face and complemented her dark eyes.

At the sight of her, Naruto gave a small shout of 'kaa-chan!' and gave her a running hug, short arms wrapping around her waist.

She gave her son a pat on the head and a smile.

Sasuke watched the scene and felt a small pang in his heart. He never had a parent to hug him. He never had a parent to greet him when he came home. He never had a parent to love him.

In his small mind, Naruto was the luckiest person ever.

Kushina looked over at the raven and gave a small smile.

"Hey, Naruto, who's your friend?"

Naruto beamed up at his mother.

"It's Sasuke! His name's Sasuke!" Naruto was practically shouting.

Kushina looked momentarily surprised at the familiar name.

"Really? So this is Uchiha Sasuke?"

Naruto gave a small nod of confirmation.

Kushina straightened and walked towards the black-haired boy.

Sasuke shrank a little. This was a stranger. Sasuke did not trust strangers. Many a beating and verbal abuse had been caused by strangers. He backed away, reminding Kushina of a frightened rabbit.

Sasuke was surprised, however, when instead of a cold glare, instead of a huge slap, the woman's arms encircled his small body and he received a hug.

So surprised was he, that he stood stock still, staring ahead.

Kushina felt the rigidity that he had succumbed to and only pulled him closer.

"You poor boy, what have they done to you?" came Kushina's hoarse whisper. She pulled away from him slowly, keeping her hands on his shoulders. Her eyes glistened, slightly wet with unshed tears. Her voice was heavy as she spoke. "Whatever happens, stay strong, 'kay, Sasuke? You're not a monster or a demon, or anything else they call you. Don't believe that. Please don't believe that."

Kushina stood up and smiled softly at the young child before her. He had faced so much at such a young age. She stretched out a hand to him.

"Hello, Sasuke. I'm Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's mother. Welcome to our home."

Sasuke glanced at Naruto before placing his small hand in hers. He looked at her beautiful face with big eyes. He was still wary, but he felt more comfortable than before. He did not gift her with a smile, but grasped her hand tighter.

Naruto watched with a smile. He was glad his mother liked his new friend so much, but he was a bit confused at her reaction. Besides, he was getting bored.

"C'mon, S'suke, let's go play!"

He led the both of them up the stairs, into his room.

Kushina was left in the living room, staring after them fondly. She shook her head and went back upstairs, back to helping her husband with his paperwork.

She smiled at the thought of the two boys.

She hoped Naruto would be able to bring his friend out of his shell. She was glad that they had found each other.

**Notes: 'Icha Icha' is the *couch*explicit books that Kakashi is so fond of. They are also translated as 'Come Come'(e.g. Come Come Paradise). Teme, again, means bastard/asshole. Anything else you don't understand? Feel free to ask me. I know I can be a bit confusing at times.**

**Thanks to everyone who read this! It'd be awesome if you review, e.t.c. The 'blueprints' of the prank will be explained next chapter. I actually spent a long time thinking about it… yeah, I have no life.**

**Until the next instalment!**  
**Aivelis.**


	4. Chapter 4- Explanation

**Firstly, thank you to everyone who took the time to fave/watch or even simply read my story! Thank you especially to the people who liked it and took the time to review. Love ya! I hope you guys will continue to support me!**

**I was looking through my story the other day and I realised the little dividers I used between scene changes were missing! I went back and edited them back in. I hope the story wasn't too confusing without them! Oh, and sorry for not updating earlier. I know you want to get on with the story, so I'll put my rough updating timetable at the end for anyone who wants to read that.**

**Disclaimer: None of the characters, personalities, items or settings belongs to me. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't even own any Naruto figurines. I just own the plot. Oh, and don't try anything explained in this chapter at home. It hasn't been tested, so I don't know how it would work. Actually…try it at home, and tell me about it…I would love to hear how it turns out!**

**By the way, this story is still un-beta'd. If someone would like to be my beta, I will be forever grateful.**

Chapter 4-Explanation

The light. I can see it. It's…expanding. Will it encompass me; fill me with that warmth? That warmth that I'm already starting to feel, the warmth that emanates from the Blonde-haired boy?

Do I really need that warmth?

How do I know if this warmth is real?

I've never experienced it, even _felt_ it properly before, the strange thing…the strange emotion people call love. The source of that warmth.

How do I know if this love is real?

* * *

The wet ground sank slightly under light footsteps as a man dashed across the raining space, wishing to find shelter. Small shoots of newly-grown grass were crushed in his haste, water splashing from the point where his foot grazed the moist earth, emanating from the spot where his toe touched the ground. A few footprints, imprinted into the brown, soggy mud, were the only sign that he had passed through.

He held a slip of paper tightly in a fist, hoping to protect it from the rain. A cloak flowed around him, white, red trimmings at the bottom, now covered in small flecks of brown.

Ah, Kushina wouldn't be happy.

A small mansion appeared in his line of sight, the exclusive training grounds being the land that he was currently running through. His estate was large, yes, but not as large as say, the Hyuuga or Sarutobi estates. The Namikaze clan were not very well known, after all. It was only after his ascension to the position of hokage that his clan became more 'noticed'.

As Minato landed on the small patio of the large house, glad to have escaped from the sudden downpour, he took off his wet cloak, wringing it out lightly. He looked at it with a slight frown. Damn, now it was crinkled _and_ dirty. He shuddered lightly as his neck was exposed to the cold. His damp hair clung to his forehead, only to be ripped from its hold as he shook his head, causing a spray of water to erupt, with him as the centre, drops rapidly escaping from the ends of his bright mane.

As his hand reached for the handle, a pair of voices from inside the house were heard. One was talking animatedly, speaking non-stop. That could only be his youngest son. Another occasionally spoke, only to voice an opinion or a thought. That, he smiled to himself, his face softening, had to be his beautiful wife, Kushina. Besides his eldest son, which he knew was residing in his own room; he felt the chakra presence of another being, small but significant and not altogether unfamiliar.

Reaching into his pocket, a key appeared in his hand, which he inserted into the lock. Turning the handle, he effectively opened the door to a rather spacious living room. Sitting around a small table, all perched on leather couches of various sizes, were a small troupe of three people, the first two, his son and his wife, sat there, talking, just as he expected.

As he had entered, the two paused in their conversation and looked up at him, both of them smiling, happy to know that he was back. He smiled back at the both of them, but seeing the third face, which had also turned when he had come in, he abruptly froze.

"Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

Sasuke did not reply, but stared up at him with a wary face. After a second or two and a small staring contest, he grunted and pointed to Naruto.

Minato turned his gaze to his son, finding bright blue eyes peeking back at him over the rear of the couch. In a flash the head had disappeared and a blurred trail of blonde dashed its way towards its father.

"Dad!"

Naruto gave his father's legs a bone-crunching hug, not caring that his pant-legs he was currently hanging onto were soaking wet. Minato looked down at his son, smiling at the almost a mini-me in everything but personality, giving him a pat and ruffle on the head before kneeling down and giving the boy his own hug.

"How're you, son?" Minato unwrapped his arms from around Naruto, stood up and flashed him a proud grin. "You defeated Mizuki for me, didn't ya? I'm very proud of you. He was a spy for a very bad man. He could have hurt the village if you didn't stop him."

Naruto scratched the back of his head and gave a smile in response, glad of the praise.

Minato softly patted Naruto's still-bandaged cheeks. "I'm glad you didn't get too badly injured, but you'll still have to be a bit more careful." For shinobi, the smell of blood and death was considered the norm, but against an opponent even slightly more powerful than Mizuki, a stray jutsu could easily end Naruto's life. The hokage did not want the fate of a short life to befall his son.

Minato shot Sasuke a glance, still slightly surprised to find the boy in his home. He turned back to Naruto.

"I didn't know you made a new friend."

"D'ya know Sasuke, Dad? Mizuki was hurting him, so I kicked his butt!"

Kushina, still sitting, gave a giggle at Naruto's choice of words. Minato frowned. Were people still hurting Sasuke?

"I'm glad you protected Sasuke-kun, Naruto. Ninjas must help people who need it." The next words of wisdom, he directed to both boys. "Protect each other, ok?"

Both boys nodded, one with enthusiasm and one with only a slight tilt of the head.

He walked down towards his wife and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"How are you, love?"

"I'm fine, 'ttebane." Kushina let out a laugh. "But you aren't. Go get a change of clothes and maybe a hot shower. You've just been caught in the rain." She him gave a little push. "Go on, we'll be right here."

Minato, realising his…wetness, also noticed the growing puddle on the smooth-tiled floor, and hurried to change out of his soaking attire, but not before he unfurled the piece of paper still clenched in his hand. He quickly bit his thumb and swiped it across the design drawn there, grabbing a bunch of paper, all filed neatly, as it popped out, and placing it on a nearby table.

When he came back, towel around his neck and dressed in casual clothes, Naruto was having a one-sided conversation with Sasuke, Kushina listening in on the side. Although Sasuke almost never replied, Minato noticed that he paid attention to every word Naruto spoke.

Minato was glad that Sasuke had found someone he could trust.

He walked down the last steps and sat next to Kushina on the sofa. All faces turned to watch him.

"You know, today I heard a very strange report in the office. I heard from some of the chuunin stationed outside my office that apparently Hyuuga Hiashi gained a bucket of slime on the head, pink, if I'm not mistaken, and pepper in the face to boot! What a day he must be having! Have any of you…"

Minato was never allowed to finish his sentence. A loud cackle drew his attention to the younger blonde, who seemed to be caught in fits of laughter. Rolling around, he proceeded to wriggle off the couch onto the floor. The whole household erupted in laughter; even Sasuke managed to smile at the scene.

Minato pinched the bridge of his nose. He should have known that it was his son causing all the trouble. It wasn't exactly a good image for him as the hokage.

Kushina, sat next to Naruto, who still happened to be on the floor. She reached out and gripped his shoulders tightly, frowning slightly. Slowly, she opened her mouth.

"Ok, Naruto, howd'ya do it? Spill." Kushina all but shouted, eyes filled with a strange gleam.

Minato groaned softly. Oh boy, not Kushina too. "Actually, you'd better not…"

But the two on the floor paid him no heed.

Kushina continued, "No-one in the Uzumaki household does a prank without telling rest of them how he did it, especially for something big like this, 'ttebane!"

Minato sighed. It was at times like this when he wondered why he had fallen in love with the woman. "…and this is the Namikaze household, not the Uzumaki!"

The mother-son duo was fast past listening. Naruto was about to tell them a rather riveting tale himself. Sasuke was also listening intently, though he, as usual, did not make a sound.

"This prank was a little hard to think up this time… but his face! You should have seen it, mum! It was awesome, wasn't it, Sasuke." Naruto started to snigger as he remembered the priceless look that had appeared on the Hyuuga's face.

Sasuke nodded as an acknowledgement to Naruto's question, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly in recollection.

"So, me an' Sasuke, before we went we needed to prepare a little, you know? First I thought of using a light flashing jutsu to blind the Hyuuga people for a bit, but everyone does that! So I thought of this cool plan. Remember when I was watching mom cook, I accidently blew into the pepper and it went woosh in my face, and we had to wash it out with water?"

Kushina and Minato nodded. Boy, did they remember that day.

"Anyways, so I got mum's pepper…"

"Oh! So that's where it went!" Everyone turned to stare at Kushina. She scratched the back of her head. "Aha, no, Naruto, continue."

"…And me and Sasuke put the pepper into a couple of smoke bombs… oh! But we had to make it really fine and powdery so I got some kage bunshins to crush them a bit. Then Sasuke had an idea to make a double trap! Then we decided to make some sludge! So I got mum's corn-starch…"

This time, everyone ignored Kushina as she snapped her fingers, realising where her starch had disappeared off to.

"…and put water in it, so it's runny when you leave it alone, but hard when you punch it and stuff. Then we put food colouring in it, so it turned pink! Then we put the smoke, no, pepper bombs in one bucket and the sludge in another, and then we creeped into the Hyuuga mansion!"

"Wow, Naruto. The Hyuugas, 'ttebane. Howd'ya do that?" Kushina was impressed.

"It was pretty easy, actually. It was like they were all away somewhere. There weren't any guards or anything."

Minato suddenly had a bolt of realization. Only a few months ago, little Hyuuga Hinata was kidnapped by Kumogakure nin so that they could steal the secrets of the Byakugan. Hiashi had chased the ninja down and killed him to rescue his daughter. The other village had denied all accusations and they instead had blamed the Hyuugas for killing their best ninja. Because of the treaty they had with Konoha, they had demanded the body of Hiashi. Minato had tried to stop it from happening, but if they didn't do it, all relations with Kumo would disappear; war would also have a very likely chance of breaking out between the two great nations. Because of this incident, all the shinobi nations were in an uproar.

But at the last moment, Hiashi's twin brother, Hizashi, volunteered to take his place. Hizashi was of the branch family. When he died, the Byakugan would be sealed away, so that no-one would be able to discover its secrets. Hizashi had died for his brother, who had done nothing but cause him pain. Hizashi had died for his clan, which had counted the few seconds between his birth and the birth of his twin, and made him suffer for it. Hizashi had left his son, Neji, alone in the world.

That was probably where they all were, Minato realised. They were at Hyuuga Hizashi's funeral.

Naruto' latest prank had either angered the clan, or cheered them up. Minato fervently hoped that it was the latter, no matter how slight the chance was. The Hyuugas could be a rather fierce group when they needed, or wanted, to be. Besides, right now was not the right time for a wealthy clan to be snapping at his heels.

It never was the right time.

"So me and Sasuke sneaked into the Hyuuga bathrooms and to set up the prank!" Naruto stopped to snigger. "You know how the Hyuugas' all have those sliding door things?"

Minato nodded, "The shoji screens?"

Naruto turned to his father. "Yeah, those! Anyways, I got the bucket with the pepper bombs and put it onto a cupboard thingy, and I tied two ninja wires on each side of the bucket, one of them a bit longer than the other. Then I got Sasuke to tie the longer one to the door, so when someone came in, the bucket would tip and a few pepper bombs would fall out, and then I taped the shorter one to the wall next to the cupboard, so the bucket wouldn't fall down. When it _did_ tip, the bombs fell to the ground and exploded from the force."

"Ahh" Kushina tapped her chin. "So that's how you got the black powder, how did you get the pink?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Eh, I ran out of imagi…image…creative things… so I just put the bucket on top of the door, ya know, so it falls when the door opens?"

Minato rubbed his hands together nervously. "Well, just your luck that Hiashi Hyuuga happened to walk through that door."

Kushina laughed boisterously. "It's great, isn't it dear, Naruto's learning all the family techniques." She ruffled Naruto's hair with vigour. "You're awesome, kid!"

Sasuke watched the scene with awe. Well, now he knew where Naruto's personality came from.

Minato groaned beside him. "I'm not part of this family anymore," he mumbled to Sasuke, "I don't know these people.

Kushina shot him a playful glare. "I heard that, mister." She grabbed for Minato and Sasuke wildly, pulling all three currently seated into a crushing bear hug. Naruto's giggles and Kushina's full-blown howls were infectious, and soon Minato was laughing too. Sasuke allowed himself a smile. They all fell off the couch in an unruly heap, lungs gasping for air and stomachs quivering.

Sasuke felt a warmth coursing through his body. Today was definitely the best day of his life, far outstripping any other. Today, he had laughed and smiled many more times in just one day than all the days in his life put together.

Although he did not openly show it, he felt more than happy. He felt much more than joyful.

He felt absolutely euphoric.

He finally had a family.

**Notes: 'ttebane is a verbal tick that Kushina has, just in case you've forgotten. Its short for dattebane, like how Naruto says dattebayo/'ttebayo. He kinda inherited it from her. Although Naruto's catchphrase/translation for Dattebayo for the anime is 'believe it', both 'ttebayo and 'ttebane can be loosely translated to 'ya know?'.**

**In the beginning, Minato does not use shunshin/body flicker/teleportation technique to get to his house because the shunshin is actually a high speed dash kinda thing. The faster you run, the wetter you get. Actually…the whole paragraph's just an excuse. He doesn't use shunshin because it would sound boring if he just teleported straight to his house. You see, it was for…um…_literary_ reasons. XD**

**Oh, and the cornstarch sludge thing actually works! It's really cool! Try it.**

**To the person who asked Naru-chan's brother was Deidara, sorry! Good guess, but nup! Sorry I couldn't respond earlier, you were a guest. By the way, it's not Kyuubi, either. The way it's going, he's gonna get revealed in one or two more chapters.**

**For my updating times, I will try to update on this fortnightly, most likely on Fridays or Sundays, maybe other days. I have a general plan for this story, so I kinda know where this is headed, hope I won't stray from that too much…but I update the chapters as I write them, I don't have a whole stack of them hidden away somewhere…sorry, yes, I'm really disorganised. XD Well, hope you guys won't mind too much…**

**Aiv.**


	5. Chapter 5- Balance

**Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. I am a bad person. I have not uploaded a chapter in so long. I'm sorry everyone! It's just been sitting there on my computer and I have absolutely no excuses to give you guys. I just hope that you will forgive me. I'll try to be more proactive next time. *bows frantically*.**

**As always, thanks to everyone who faved/reviewed/read this story. Again, unbeta'd, characters/setting are not mine and most Japanese words will be explained.**

**I'll get on to the story. Hope you guys will like it. ^^'**

****Chapter-Balance

My mind was once dark. My life was once dark. Without a light to guide me, I would often become lost in the gloom. Then _they_ appeared. I had not been waiting too long.

First was the dim light from the yellow haired man. It allowed me to see, allowed me to find my way. But it was not light enough for anything else.

Next was the light emanating from the yellow haired boy…Naruto. It was suddenly so dazzlingly bright. Dazzlingly warm. I almost lost myself in the light, that radiant, that beautiful light.

Then was the smaller light, that light was emitted from the red-haired lady. Her light, together with her son and his father's weren't blinding. Instead, it evened them out, made the light gentle and comfortable.

How long will it last? It may be a long time, but I hope it will endure forever.

* * *

"You excited, Sasuke?" Naruto paused, looking at Sasuke's small face expectantly, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Hn."

"Hmph, teme." Naruto's bottom lip stuck out, a frown marring his face. "C'mon, S'uke, It's the first day of school! You gotta feel _something._"

"Hn."

Naruto sighed and rolled his eyes. _Again, _Sasuke's customary answer. Crossing his arms, he struggled to catch up to Sasuke. Damn it! It wasn't_ his_ fault his legs were short!

Minato walked behind the two boys, chuckling at his son's antics. Ah, to be young. He remembered his first day of school. He and Naruto looked so similar; they could probably pass as twins, provided that Minato was younger, a _lot_ younger, and had shorter hair. That said, he was pretty sure he wasn't as excitable as Naruto at that age… or as short. He turned his head to sneak another look back at his young son. Now Naruto seemed to be having a some sort of huffy fit, probably owing to the fact that Sasuke 'refused' to respond. Minato grunted in amusement, causing the boys to peer back at him.

He offered them a grin. "Save it for later, kids, we're almost there."

Although the children were already extremely familiar with the route to school, it was not strange that he was walking with them. As hokage, he needed to welcome the new students for the year, as was customary. This, for him, was extremely convenient; the hokage's office was located in one of the buildings on the school grounds. With this, mission briefing, especially for new genins, wouldn't be of any inconvenience to anyone. The academy _was_ a fairly large place.

The shinobi academy was slightly different to the average civilian school. For one, although there were clearly defined school years, there were no proper grades and there was no definite age to start attending, though the age of five was recommended. The only way to progress to the next year would be to pass a test regarding intellect and ninja skill, therefore, a child of any age could be allowed to graduate, just as long as they meet the requirements needed.

There was also one other major difference.

The dropout rates for the shinobi academy were exceedingly high; in fact, the last time the statistics had been recorded, the rate of children failing to graduate had been over eighty percent, and even if a student were allowed to graduate, it was not guaranteed that they would pass the post-graduation test assigned by their specifically allocated jounin sensei.

Not only did the ninja aspirators need to be steady in mind as well sturdy in physique, they needed to be able to access chakra and have the uncanny ability to persevere. They needed a level head during times of great panic. They could not be afraid of blood nor the dark or anyone or anything the world could possibly throw at them. They had to be able to follow specific orders from superiors, make the decision to kill and be responsible for the lives of a great number of people. If they had to, they needed to sever bonds without a moment's hesitation. If they had to, they needed to make great sacrifices. In short, the academy was not simply for _anyone_.

Therefore, every year, a substantial majority of the graduates were from the shinobi clans of the village. The course was demanding enough to break down _any_ person within the first year of attending such a school, without forgetting that most of the students were mere children. For that reason, the gates to the civilian school were always open, accepting any children who had given up on their ninja dream and now merely wanted to be story owners or merchants.

That was justification for why Minato was glad he trained his son up early, even earlier than most clans. With so many children in the academy to teach, Naruto probably wouldn't be too much of a burden to the chuunin instructors in terms of learning. In fact, with his remarkable friend-making ability, he could probably help the other children, maybe even inspire them.

Minato nodded to himself. Yup, being a people-person should definitely be added to the 'qualities-ninjas-need' list.

When the small group was close enough to see the giant 'fire' kanji, Minato observed that Naruto seemed to have forgiven Sasuke and was now talking quietly to him. As it was quite unusual for Naruto to talk quietly to anyone, Minato realised how important Sasuke's friendship meant to him. It was now a couple of months since the day they met. Their friendship had grown in leaps and bounds, much faster than any bonds Naruto had formed with _anyone_ and Naruto was already an extremely social person.

Minato was surprised that Naruto's personality fit so well with someone such as Sasuke. Their personalities were like the difference between the sky and earth. Sasuke was the sky, calm and serene, but dark and dangerous if need be. Naruto was the earth, vibrant, teeming with creatures. Although their existences were like opposite sides of a shuriken, they couldn't do much without the other.

Minato shook his head. He was getting poetic. Did being in a position of high power do that to him? Maybe he was just growing old. Ah, no matter.

The two were almost inseparable, often found playing and wandering around together, and because of this friendship, Sasuke's confidence had soared. The attacks on Sasuke also lessened, though they hadn't ceased, and Kyuubi-haters were often torn between their loathing of the beast and its container and igniting the fury of the Hokage's son. How fickle they were. Could they not see that the shell was not the tortoise inside it? That the skin was not the peach? One was not the other, but they could not live separately, they were an entity. Just like a peach would wither without its skin, If Kyuubi was extracted from Sasuke, he would also die.

Ah, again with the poetic…ness. He would need a note on that.

Despite all that Naruto had bought him, Sasuke was still an extremely cautious child, frightened of strangers and petrified of the world. There was only one being that he truly trusted- the blonde walking by his side.

With the two children walking ahead, the group reached the doors leading to the circular open-air auditorium situated on the roof of the largest building in the academy. It was a rather convenient area that could be used as an emergency meeting place or, as occasion called, a small training or tournament ground.

As they had arrived quite early, there weren't many people there. Telling the two boys to stay put, Minato headed towards the podium, readying himself for the welcome.

As the cheering slowly died down, most of the people, a large percentage of them children and parents, slowly drifted out of the amphitheatre. While Naruto and Sasuke waited Minato to finish clearing up his documents, they peered over the barrier surrounding the area, arms hanging over the metal, watching parents sending their children to respective classrooms and talking to the teachers.

Sasuke peered at the blond beside him, glancing through his hair.

When he opened his mouth, he spoke quietly, eyes downcast. "You know, I wish I had a mum or a dad."

Naruto, hearing Sasuke's voice, turned his head so that he faced him. Seeing his friend's face full of sadness, he shot him a grin.

"You can always share my mum and dad with me, S'uke, even my brother!"

"Tch, dobe. You know that can't really happen." Despite his words, Sasuke let a small smile escape his lips. "C'mon, your dad's calling."

He kept on staring as Naruto bounced away.

"Thank you."

* * *

"Man, I can't believe our luck! I love Iru-chan!"

The two, accompanied by Minato, were traversing the hallway in search of their classroom. All of them, having needed to go to the Hokage's office on multiple occasions, had passed through the academy many times before and therefore knew the layout of the building well. So for them, finding the classroom was not a problem at all.

Since more or less one hundred and fifty ninja wannabes had enrolled for the new year, Minato had decided that there be four classes for around forty students each, sorted by surnames. In that regard, the boys were also very lucky, both having surnames with an 'u'vowel. Each class was appointed with a chuunin sensei, as well as a few other teachers that switched between classes to teach them the basics in various other subjects. Naruto and Sasuke's teacher happened to be one Umino Iruka.

Despite the number of people that had been administered, Minato was almost positive that by the end of next year, there would be only one class left, maximum two.

Ah well, being a ninja was hard work. Minato would rather be safe than sorry with his next fleet of shinobi. Having weak ninja would probably be a liability.

Finally reaching the room, they opened the door, finding that most of the children were already seated, some parents still hovering around. Ambling into the room, Naruto's blue eyes swept across the area, conducting a frantic search for one particular man. Finally spotting him, Naruto started a mad dash, rushing towards him.

"Iru-chan!"

Poor Iruka, with nothing but a shout as warning, was hit by a large force, almost knocking the wind out of him. He normally would have noticed the chakra, but a child running around was not an unlikely sight in a crowded classroom such as one like this.

Iruka could only spare a look of apology at the horrified parent he had been talking to before small arms were suddenly wrapped around his waist in an almost constricting grip.

"N-Naruto," was wheezed out. "Le'go."

"Iru-chan!" A face was nuzzled into a belly. "I'm so happy you're my teacher!"

"I-I'm glad t-too, N-Naruto-kun."

Hearing a chuckle from behind him, Iruka turned his body around, taking the still clinging blonde with him.

"Ah, H-hokage-sama."

Minato gave another laugh. "You'll have to excuse my son, Iruka-kun. He's particularly excited today."

Naruto stepped away from his teacher, his expression a mixture of a pout and a frown.

Before long it suddenly lit up again. An idea had been conceived. He tugged on Iruka's sleeve. "Ne, Iru-chan, does it mean I need to call you Iru-sensei now?"

Iruka smiled at the thought, ruffling yellow strands. "That would be nice, Naruto-kun."

The blonde grinned up, appeased. Seeing the look, Minato took it as his cue to step up. "Well, Iruka-kun, this is Sasuke-" He pushed the boy forward,"-he's Naruto's friend. Please take care of them."

"Of course, hokage-sama." Seeing the little black-haired boy next to Minato, he smiled, bent his knees and knelt, effectively lowering himself to the boy's eye level. "Hello, Sasuke. I'm Iruka, as you probably already know." He glanced at the two blondes, smiling, before turning back to face the boy. "Welcome to the class."

Sasuke, being Sasuke, answered with his usual 'Hn'.

Seeing that the two were in good hands, Minato quietly left the room.

Walking through the hallway, the hokage wondered about his son's new teacher. No, he hadn't made the wrong decision. Iruka was a good choice for the class. He was known to be kind to children, patient and kind, but this was his first year as an academy sensei. Minato had hoped a familiar face would help boost the chuunin's confidence. It seemed he wasn't wrong.

Ah well. Minato shrugged and shunshined to his office. Another day's worth of paperwork to go.

* * *

Class was about to start. Most parents had already left and Iruka was gathering the children into the seats.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly scanned the room, searching for two adjacent empty seats. Naruto finally spotted a pair, quite close the front of the room, but off to the side. There was only one girl who sat in the seat next to them.

Pulling on Sasuke's hand, they managed to grab the sets before anyone else could reach them. As Naruto proceeded to sit down and throw his bag on the ground, he slumped down in his chair and turned to the child next to him.

Seeing her at a closer range, he saw that her hair was a dark colour, almost as deep as Sasuke's, and her eyes were strangely clear. Along with the traditional Japanese clothes, she seemed an odd, yet oddly familiar sight. Who was she? Well, there was only one way to find out. He stuck a hand, rather rudely, into her vision.

"Ohaiyo, Byakugan-chan!"

She turned around with what seemed like lightning speed and let out a little squeak. She then turned to look down at the table.

Despite the response, Naruto, as usual, wan undeterred. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto and next to me here-"he thumped Sasuke's shoulder,"-is Uchiha Sasuke, what's your name?"

With that, Sasuke also turned to face her.

She continued to stare downwards. There was a moment of silence. Naruto was starting to get worried. Not for longer, though. Fitting with her quiet demeanour, her voice was extremely soft.

"A-ano… M-my name is H-hyuuga Hinata." She bowed slightly before them. "P-please be kind to me."

Both Naruto and Sasuke returned the bow. Naruto scratched the back of his head.

"Well…please be kind to us too!"

So she was from the Hyuuga clan, the unfortunate household that they had pranked just a few months ago. Well, she seemed nice enough, if not a… little shy. The blonde hoped that they could get along well.

With that over and done with, he slumped into his seat and waited for Iruka to speak.

**I never originally planned for Hinata to be in here! Hope I'll turn out ok...**

**Notes: Again, teme-bastard/asshole, dobe-loser/dead last. About the class thing, there are 5 vowels a, i, u, e, o, in that order. Usually they would organise it using the consonants (k, s e.t.c.), but I thought this would probably be easier. (The Japanese hiragana/katakana is roughly be read as: a, i, u, e, o, ka, ki, ku, ke, ko...) Most of the Konoha 9 would be in the 'a' class (Akimichi, Nara, Aburame, Haruno, Yamanaka) Hinata is in their class because her surname is Hyuuga. Naruto calls her Byakugan-chan at first because Byakugan literally means 'White Eyes'. He is purely describing her physical appearance. He has no idea she can do ocular jutsu. So 'Ohaiyo, Byakugan-chan' just means 'Good morning, White-eyes-chan' in case any of you are confused XD**

**The reason they say 'please be kind to me' is because 'Yoroshiku onegaishimasu' loosely translated means that. It seems a bit weird writing it.**

**I'll be happy if you guys could review. It gives me inspiration, motivation and other sappy stuff that makes my heart go mushy. So yeah...Do it.**

**Aiv out.**


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